Several factors led Gorbachev to initiate reforms in the erstwhile USSR –

• The bureaucratic and authoritarian Soviet system was making life difficult for the ordinary citizens of the country.

• A one-party system made the Communist Party unaccountable to the people causing a crisis in democracy and affecting basic freedom rights like freedom of speech etc.

• The USSR was made up of 15 republics but Russia dominated over the other republics who were often neglected and suppressed.

• The Soviet economy was also underdeveloped and stagnant in comparison to the Western economy.